[hellraizer]

Originally Posted by parrys

I am sure you guy's had loads of fun riding on the highest motorable road. I just have a few questions to ask since I am planning for Leh-Ladakh around July 2013:

[*]How difficult was it to ride in general - considering the weight of your 'HEAVY BULLS' with the luggage?[*]Were there enough fuel pumps around?[*]I am planning to take my R15 2.0, does it sound reasonable?[*]Any local roadside assistance available, like a mechanic or a bike garage anywhere in your route?[*]The picture with the guy on a Pulsar 220, were there more bikes of this category? (Eg. CBR250, Pulsar NS, KTM Duke etc.)[*]Could you throw some light on the rates for accommodation?[*]I am sure this was the most memorable ride of your life, and I wish I get a piece of that riding pleasure soon.

We are planning in the month of Aug. We are about 7-8 guys. None with Enfields. Some of us are planning to get the KTM 390 for this Leh trip, others are planning to get their bikes or rent. Torn between this decision of renting Enfields or transporting our bikes from Bangalore.

I for one don't have the patience of changing clutch cables, throttle cables and so on and so forth.

Guys,
Can anyone throw some light on the quality of Enfields that can be rented in Delhi? How reliable will be these bikes?

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by hellraizer

We are planning in the month of Aug. We are about 7-8 guys. None with Enfields. Some of us are planning to get the KTM 390 for this Leh trip, others are planning to get their bikes or rent. Torn between this decision of renting Enfields or transporting our bikes from Bangalore.

I for one don't have the patience of changing clutch cables, throttle cables and so on and so forth.

Guys,
Can anyone throw some light on the quality of Enfields that can be rented in Delhi? How reliable will be these bikes?

One of the RE to be specific it was an Electra hired by my friend (TBHP User Name: catchvinny) from Delhi. We had fair amount of problems with the bike right from the beginning. A broken throttle cable, broken chain connection and his bike was continuously misfiring during the entire trip. We changed a lot of spark plugs and for once we even had the carb replaced but still the misfiring problem persisted all the time. This doesnt mean that all the bikes rented from Delhi have this problem, it was the experience we had faced with the bike.

The advantage you have when you are travelling in your bike is that you know your bike better than the one you would rent. So you can take a call between the them based on how much you know your bike and going for the rented ones.
I preferred to take my 28 year OLD RE than renting the bike as I very much knew my bike and completing Leh circuit on my own bike would bring me a bigger smile on my face

Which bike do you plan to take it from here.?
I would suggest you to take your bike as completing the trip on it would be more pleasing and it works out less expensive than renting a bike.

[hellraizer]

Originally Posted by AMG_ang

Which bike do you plan to take it from here.?
I would suggest you to take your bike as completing the trip on it would be more pleasing and it works out less expensive than renting a bike.

AMG_ang, thanks for your advice. Currently I do not own a bike .
However, I plan to get "Duked" soon. I am indeed waiting for the KTM 390 which is slated to be launched soon. I am eagerly waiting for this monster.

I have test driven the duke enough number of times and have convinced myself that this is the bike I need to get Leh'd on.

I test drove the Classic 350 and Classic 500, just for the heck of it. I guess, I am not an RE man. At least, I am not yet in love with the RE. The very torrid stories of RE breaking down and with clutch/cable problems have put me off from buying an RE for a long time. No offence to any RE owners here.

The sheer thought about going to Leh is giving me sleepless nights already. The junta in office are equally excited. All of us have started on the fitness regime

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by hellraizer

AMG_ang, thanks for your advice. Currently I do not own a bike .
However, I plan to get "Duked" soon. I am indeed waiting for the KTM 390 which is slated to be launched soon. I am eagerly waiting for this monster.

I have test driven the duke enough number of times and have convinced myself that this is the bike I need to get Leh'd on.

I test drove the Classic 350 and Classic 500, just for the heck of it. I guess, I am not an RE man. At least, I am not yet in love with the RE. The very torrid stories of RE breaking down and with clutch/cable problems have put me off from buying an RE for a long time. No offence to any RE owners here.

The sheer thought about going to Leh is giving me sleepless nights already. The junta in office are equally excited. All of us have started on the fitness regime

Duke indeed is a very capable machine and many duke riders have got Leh'd on a duke.
Off the topic, by test ride of duke I assume that you test drove the 200 and not the 390. Even i'm planning to get the 390. Eagerly waiting for the launch and the pricing of it. Do you have any updates on it?

All the best for your planning, hope you too get Leh'd soon

[hellraizer]

Originally Posted by AMG_ang

Duke indeed is a very capable machine and many duke riders have got Leh'd on a duke.
Off the topic, by test ride of duke I assume that you test drove the 200 and not the 390. Even i'm planning to get the 390. Eagerly waiting for the launch and the pricing of it. Do you have any updates on it?

All the best for your planning, hope you too get Leh'd soon

Yes. I test drove the Duke 200 a couple of times and got convinced that I need to get the big brother. Regarding the update on 390 launch, its most likely happening in June. There are some other pointers on the net that says, it may be launched on 25/May. I would recommend that you "like" the facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/KTM.Bangalor...o.Race?fref=ts

You should see updates on this facebook page of the impeding launch of the 390. At the moment, I am worried about the possible long waiting period for getting the bike. I guess, too many bike enthusiasts these days.
I just hope and pray that I get my 390 before my Leh expedition.

We are actually planning to do a road trip starting from Delhi. We want to start from Bangalore on the 10-Aug and be back in Bangalore on 25-Aug. I hope we will last this 2 week ordeal. There is one guy in our gang who has done a Leh bike tour last year and he is so excited about coming again with us. We may probably make some changes to the below route depending on the time available and any unforeseen circumstances.

TBH, Duke is my inspiration to do the Leh trip
I am 32 and its been more than 10 years since I have been on the saddle. I am used to the comfort of the car for too long. I hope I can keep up with the rest of the riders who are much younger and fitter.

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by hellraizer

Yes. I test drove the Duke 200 a couple of times and got convinced that I need to get the big brother. Regarding the update on 390 launch, its most likely happening in June. There are some other pointers on the net that says, it may be launched on 25/May. I would recommend that you "like" the facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/KTM.Bangalor...o.Race?fref=ts

You should see updates on this facebook page of the impeding launch of the 390. At the moment, I am worried about the possible long waiting period for getting the bike. I guess, too many bike enthusiasts these days.
I just hope and pray that I get my 390 before my Leh expedition.

We are actually planning to do a road trip starting from Delhi. We want to start from Bangalore on the 10-Aug and be back in Bangalore on 25-Aug. I hope we will last this 2 week ordeal. There is one guy in our gang who has done a Leh bike tour last year and he is so excited about coming again with us. We may probably make some changes to the below route depending on the time available and any unforeseen circumstances.

TBH, Duke is my inspiration to do the Leh trip
I am 32 and its been more than 10 years since I have been on the saddle. I am used to the comfort of the car for too long. I hope I can keep up with the rest of the riders who are much younger and fitter.

Age no bar for a rider Once you start riding after Manali, the sheer beauty along the road makes you forget everything else, let it be body pain or anything else. I suggest you to keep 2-3 days buffer between the start and end date, so that you can realign your plan in case you deviate from the actual plan. In the map I don't see your plan to PagongTso and Khardungla, don't you plan to go there?

[hellraizer]

Originally Posted by AMG_ang

Age no bar for a rider Once you start riding after Manali, the sheer beauty along the road makes you forget everything else, let it be body pain or anything else. I suggest you to keep 2-3 days buffer between the start and end date, so that you can realign your plan in case you deviate from the actual plan. In the map I don't see your plan to PagongTso and Khardungla, don't you plan to go there?

Yeah yeah. You are right. This was a rough plan that I thought of. We are definitely doing Khardungla and Pangong lake as well. Another rider too suggested we keep a buffer for 2-3 days to counter any unforeseen circumstances; landslides or bridge collapse so on and so forth.

Except for a couple of guys in the group, none has done such long trips on bike. Also, we are planning to take an escort vehicle with us so that we can all dump our bags/luggage in this vehicle and ride free on the bike. I guess this will be really helpful considering that we ride on lighter and well balanced bikes. What do you think of this idea?

Thanks for your kind words and inspiration.

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by hellraizer

Yeah yeah. You are right. This was a rough plan that I thought of. We are definitely doing Khardungla and Pangong lake as well. Another rider too suggested we keep a buffer for 2-3 days to counter any unforeseen circumstances; landslides or bridge collapse so on and so forth.

Except for a couple of guys in the group, none has done such long trips on bike. Also, we are planning to take an escort vehicle with us so that we can all dump our bags/luggage in this vehicle and ride free on the bike. I guess this will be really helpful considering that we ride on lighter and well balanced bikes. What do you think of this idea?

Thanks for your kind words and inspiration.

For everything there is a first time, and this first time memories will last forever in your mind.

As long as you can afford a escort vehicle, you can always have it and will definitely make thing easy for you.

Nonetheless luggage is not really a hindrance to the bike balance as long as you can manage to hang/tie the luggage equally on either side of the bike. And i'm pretty sure if you are taking the duke then it has sufficient capabilities to carry you and your the luggage without much of a problem.

[hellraizer]

A colleague of mine in office, I knew he had done some bike trip. I then asked him about his bike tours and he pointed me to his blog. I saw this and was blown. I thought, I must share it with everyone.

http://praveenkm.blogspot.in/

175 days, 25508 KMs on a Karizma. I still cannot digest the fact that he did this alone. Hats off to this great man.

He spent 1 full month in Leh.